As Nick Dunlap won The American Express, the tournament's volunteers kept it all going

I think I can retire now from being a first-time golf spectator after seeing Nick Dunlap beat all the pros Sunday.

I admittedly fall into the camp of people who think watching golf is, well, boring.

After last weekend, I’ve completely changed my tune. It’s captivating. I mean it!

I reached out for advice to Larry Bohannan, The Desert Sun’s longtime golf reporter, author of two golf books, "50 Years of Hope" and "Palm Springs Golf: A History of Coachella Valley Legends and Fairways,” and general golf expert extraordinaire.

I knew Larry would know how to field my many questions as a first-time goer, including my top question about the dress code –

“Tennis shoes are good. Heels are bad,” he explained.

I opted for some Nikes and nondescript khaki pants that I honestly think I last wore when I interviewed for this job at The Desert Sun and jetted to PGA West.

Though I had no idea what a bunker was or Bermuda grass, I was ready to learn.

The tournament was buzzing on what was just a beautifully temperate late Friday morning. The sprawling holes were peppered with people politely standing behind green ropes as the players worked their way through the Stadium Course.

As I was here to meet some of the tournament’s longtime volunteers, I met up with my fellow Desert Sun colleagues first in the media tent – the Desert Sun colleagues who know what shooting a 60 means – and I felt so honored to be among them in this fancy press suite when I didn’t even know one of the player’s names.

Someone in the press office had called Larry the unofficial “mayor” of the tournament and as such, he more than helped me quickly understand the ground rules of spectator etiquette.

Larry walked me over to the volunteer tent and along the way, I quickly learned to step aside to let players pass through – and also that the players walked the whole way.

There are two approaches to watching golfers – you can either follow them around from hole to hole, or you can find a good perch and sit there. I looked over at the people sitting cross-legged on the soft grass and knew immediately which camp I fell into. As an inherently lazy person, I choose sit over walk any day.

The volunteer hall was jam packed. I briefly met volunteer coordinator Richard Konzem, who was manning a booth at the entryway of the gigantic volunteer tent. Konzem, who managed over 1,000 volunteers for this tournament, was as calm as the golfers themselves. He described the energy of the tournament as post-pandemic “back.”

A sentiment I could feel as I talked with Gay Rupert, 71, volunteer vice chair of amateur player services, as we perched on a grassy knoll near the amateur tent between her shifts.

“It wouldn’t run without the volunteers,” Rupert said. “This is an opportunity for us to make sure that [the amateurs] have a positive memorable experience, and not cutting into what their job is – and that's to golf.”

This year, there were 156 amateur players. Their ‘pay to play’ buy-ins are then turned into donation money that goes back into the community which is a pretty cool deal.

For Rupert, the friendships are the bonus, particularly as there’s a huge Canadian population of volunteers – some who have become friends she sees every year at this event.

“I'm a snowbird from just outside of Vancouver, and we're down here for the winter,” Rupert said. "And we're real big golf people, my husband and I, we golf, we watch it. So not only is it fun to look after the golf experience; you're also building friendships.”

From there, I had to jet off to the La Quinta Resort to meet Rhodelle Ireland, another longtime volunteer and chair of amateur player services who was getting ready for another happy hour in the resort’s Diego room.

As I waited for my car at the clubhouse valet, I watched the golf carts queue up with the cars and wondered what the rules were here: who has the right of way? Presumably the golf carts as they look way more fun than cars? And can you park a golf cart in valet? It didn’t appear so as I watched a group chatting with the valet in front of the clubhouse.

A group of women chicly decked in cowboy boots on their way to see Keith Urban wondered where the Uber pickup spot was for after the concert – ladies, if you happen to read this, do let me know – did you have to walk a mile back to somewhere on Jefferson to get picked up? I hope not.

In the Diego room of the La Quinta Resort just opposite Twenty6, I sat down with Rhodelle Ireland, 71, who lives in Calgary part of the year and Palm Desert the rest – and is captain of amateur players services.

Rhodelle lost her voice for a third year in a row. Laryngitis, she explained, had become a part of the job seeing as she talks to guests for hours and hours per day. Though she apologized for her voice lacking due to laryngitis, her personality shined right through.

Ireland has a calm kindness when she talks to you – as she explains that she “hand-selects” people to be on her committee – though I wasn't even a volunteer I immediately wanted her to pick me. She had that magnetic kind of charm.

“We’re talking constantly,” Ireland said, sometimes from 7 a.m. until 6 or 7 p.m. at night.

Ireland has been a golf tournament volunteer since 2008, the same year she retired from a career in human resources.

“It’s very personalized,” Ireland explained, likening her group’s role as the “directors of first impressions.”

Her lanyard around her neck donned with various tournament pins tells the story – as many tournaments change names due to their sponsors, the lanyard was strewn with pins from back when Dinah Shore tournament was called “The Chevron,” or The American Express was called “The Humana.”

“I spent my working career in senior leadership roles in human resources, and community kinds of things. It's a natural fit for me — delivering extraordinary service in whatever capacity and ensuring that the end result is a meaningful one. It’s just human nature for me.”

I’m happy to say that when I checked back in with Ireland again Monday to see if she had watched Dunlap’s win, she had – and her voice was back.

“The fact that history was made in our valley with Nick Dunlap taking the top prize was a blessing,” she said, rasp gone, but same Rhodelle Ireland, quiet confidence intact.

Nicky Loomis is the opinion and engagement editor at The Desert Sun. She can be reached at nicky.loomis@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: As Nick Dunlap won The American Express, the tournament's volunteers kept it all going